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Talk:Four Warriors Cometh (Remastered - Part the First)/@comment-2142396-20190505184703
I'm slowly catching up on this, so I'm commenting again after finishing chapter 6. I was waiting for Sayna and Tynek's quest to Salamandastron, but I thought that they would be sent there to gather an army to oppose Verdauga, not to confirm their identities as the true Marks and heirs to the kings of Old Mossflower. Though Bella makes a good point about Sayna needing both her sword and an army to fulfill her goal of killing Verdauga, it seems to me that Bella’s proposal was more of a compromise between testing Sayna and Tynek and actually helping them. All in all, Mossflower seems to be a far less visitor-friendly place than it were in original books – I got an impression that Sayna and Tynek wouldn't have been accepted so easily if they weren't golden mice. After all, Bella does tell Amber that she would be able to do what she wishes if Sayna and Tynek fail their test… Also, I noticed that although Germaine took care to provide the questors with healing supplies, they set off without being properly armed, and Sayna even had to fight the Greeneyes soldiers with Gingivere's dagger because of that. I understand that their own swords were broken and needed to be reforged, but I expected Bella and other Mossflowerians to at least provide them with replacement weapons... Now, I'm also curious about how the Old Mossflower was governed. Currently, Bella, Warthorn, Argulor and Amber make up the Council that makes all the important decisions, but what about the time before Verdauga's conquest? Apparently, king Martin, Sayna and Tynek's grandpa, was the High King, but Warthorn and Aimon were also titled as kings? Does that mean that their role was similar to the one of Verdauga's vassal lords, governing their tribes while still getting orders from the High King? If that's the case, did Argulor and Bella also used to hold positions of authority? Sayna, Tynek and Groddil's attack on Greeneyes garrison was... chilling, to say the least, and the fact that Sayna purposefully called to her fear and embraced it to awake her Bloodwrath was pretty terrifying. I mean, Bloodwrath is terrifying by itself, but somehow, evoking rage and anger seems to be more natural than nursing your own fears and insecurities to aid yourself in battle. If Tynek bottles up all of his emotions due to his Bloodwrath and the risk of snapping and losing his temper, then Sayna is going to become a nervous and paranoid wreck by the end of the war if she continues in such vein. I'm just... so torn up and sorry to see Sayna in such condition. :( I really hope that she would be able to heal and gain a peace of mind after the war, with the support of her friends and family. And I especially count on a certain someone to help her through with it. :P On a more positive note, I really like Dancer's friendship with Wildfire! I can just imagine these two chatting along the way as they travel while Sayna and Tynek sulk and pointedly ignore each other. Oh, that's bound to be hilarious! :D Luna's PoV was very interesting to read, due to her unique perspective. I think if I didn't know beforehand, I would've managed to guess that Luna is blind because of the way she describes her surroundings, but it was a fun experience regardless. Actually, I was reminded of the first chapters of 'The Sight' from 'Warriors' series, when I actually read two or three chapters from Jaykit's PoV before realizing that he is blind. I also really appreciated an opportunity to understand Luna better, since in TWB she was so distant and aloof that I couldn't exactly get a sense of her character. Luna's ability to feel other creatures' emotions whether she wants it or not made her more sympathetic to me, and it was a nice touch to make her acknowledge that her soothing magic can influence other creatures' judgment. By the way, when Luna says that she used all her faith to keep Rose alive, does it mean that it was her magic that ultimately saved Rose's life after her near-death in the battle of Marshank and healed her? The evolution of Rose's character from the naive girl she used to be to a fighter is more subtle in this rewrite, but I actually like it more. In the first version, you just said that Rose had changed, but now you show us how she had changed. She learned how to use her bow and arrows and became stronger, yes, but she is still far from the queen she would become, and she has so far to go. In fact, I think that now Rose is more emotionally fragile than ever. Poor Rose, these four years with her parents and without Brek to support her really weren't kind to her, and I want to hug that poor child so much. Despite her determination to actually do something and at least try to help Mossflower, she is hurting so much, and it hurts me to see her like that. As for what's happening in Kotir, there is only one way to describe the whole situation: s**t goes down. :o Pardon my French, of course. ^^; Judging by the amount of blood in Verdauga's bedchamber, his death was neither quick nor easy, and since Tsarmina wouldn't have been able to inflict so much damage without receiving at least some wounds in return or having the alarm raised, there are two possible variants that come to mind: Tsarmina's poisoned scepter or Fortunata's dark magic, or the combination of both. And Tsarmina actually picked the best possible scapegoats to frame for Verdauga's death – the Bloodwrathers that everyone in Kotir had already been afraid of. If she continues to scheme in the same fashion, Tsarmina would be a truly magnificent villain this time around. And while I understand why you kept Tsarmina off-stage until now, I still wish we could've seen more of the relationship inside the family. From what we've seen, Gingivere mostly ignored Tsarmina, and she, according to Gingi's words, always hated him – because he was the heir, or because he was Verdauga's favourite and surpassed Tsarmina in many ways, or maybe because of all of the above? It was pretty sad for me to see Gingivere make such grand plans for his reign, knowing that he wouldn't get to implement any of the changes he had planned. :( And he even wanted to make Brek a royal steward! It would've certainly been a huge step forward for Kotir, even if Brek wasn't officially freed, since I can't exactly imagine Verdauga's council and ministers allowing a free woodlander to hold a position of such power. However, if he were nominally a slave, even a high-ranking one, then it would be easier to the others to accept changes. On the other hand, Brek is only fourteen, so Gingivere likely planned to wait for at least a couple of years before promoting him, and that could've been enough time for Gingi to slowly influence his subjects' attitude toward woodlanders... Though I’d like to note is that aside from Ashleg, we never actually got to know any of Verdauga’s council and elite, not even by names. I assume that they are not very important plot-wise, since Tsarmina successfully overthrown both Verdauga and Gingivere, but I got an impression that the council holds a lot of power in Kotir, since they were the one deciding Gingivere’s fate after Tsarmina presented them with the ‘evidence’. So, while it would be too much to give each of them a personality and backstory, I thought it would’ve been nice if they were more of a presence. While Gingivere's plan to send Whegg and Brek away is truly his only chance as well as their only chance to survive, as Tsarmina would surely have them killed, I still admire Gingivere's bravery and resolution in doing so. Because once it's discovered that two of Gingivere's beasts have disappeared from a closed room, the council most likely would view it as another proof of Gingivere's involvement in Verdauga's death. Tsarmina would be furious for sure, and while she may not dare to execute Gingi, I don't think that his imprisonment would be easy. :o Actually, come to think of it, Gingivere could've escaped through the tunnels with Whegg and Brek, but he didn't, stalling Tsarmina's soldiers and giving his friends more time, and that calls for additional respect. Speaking about Brek, I have to say that I always assumed that he went to Kotir with Gingivere and Whegg simply because he had no other choice, and Salley and the others either failed to rescue him or never reached him before the battle started. However, according to Gingivere, Brek actually chose to follow him? Well, that paints Brek's character development and his relationship with Gingivere in a completely new light. I just imagine how hard it was for a ten-year-old kit to find out that his father gave up on him, but for him to devote himself to doing the exact opposite of what's Urran was doing, to fixing things up instead of ignoring problems... Well, that takes a lot of guts.